Blogs from Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

I arrive in Belfast from Dublin, and I am very eager and excited to be here. I am a huge Game of Thrones fan, and a lot of the filming is done in Belfast. I have slated two separate tours that I am so excited about. I also didn't want to miss out on going to the sight to where one of the most famous ships in history was built; The Titanic. With a pretty full schedule, I thought it best to go to tour the Titanic museum and site first thing. I normally use my feet to get around, and for this trip I continued to do so. It was a bit further than I thought, but never the less I make my way there. It was starting to rain, and I was thinking I ... read more

We arrived early in the morning in Belfast, Northern Ireland (pronounced Norn Iron by the locals), a city with a turbulent past referred to by it’s people as “The Troubles.” The troubles were primarily from 1968-1998 when horrendous bombings and assassinations occurred between the Protestant “Loyalists” who were supportive of a British controlled Northern Ireland, and the Catholic IRA “Republicans” who were supportive of a free and unified Ireland. There has been religious conflict between the Protestants and Catholics well before this time, but this is the period when armed conflict was escalated and a wall was built to keep Nationalists and Loyalists apart known as the “peace wall.” These walls divided communities and peoples many believe exacerbated the problems. Our incredible BnB host Walter (favorite host and accommodation ever, and Mom’s crush even without the ... read more

Today was dominated by the "Political and Mural" black taxi tour. It was just Jane and I and the guide, Norman Reilly, born and bred Belfast, and who spent 11 months in prison as a 17 year old during the Protestant - IRA "war". It was totally enlightening, bringing back many memories of incidents and names of major protagonists we had seen on television and read in the newspapers when younger. Jane and I walked through the streets where the violence had raged and had claimed the lives of 1200 people in one square mile. Since the ceasing of hostilities a "Peace Wall" has been built separating Shankill Road and Falls Road (Protestant and Catholic areas). Come 7pm the gates are shut. The captions for the photos add to the story. After the tour we walked ... read more

Dear All Greetings, from London! Although I am currently back in London again, I have just returned from an amazing four-day trip to Northern Ireland, it currently being our half-term break here in London. I really did have an amazing time over there in Northern Ireland, and although I only initially intended to write one Travel Blog entry upon my return, I have decided that in order to be able to do the trip, and my experiences there, justice, I plan to write it up in a total of three Travel Blog entries, based mainly on my three full days of travel over there. The idea for this trip came towards the end of 2017. Having recently returned from West Africa, and it still being many months away until my next planned big summer trip, I ... read more

First Sleep Belfast...arrive after 22.00 ….very late at night...in the dark … via the Cairnryan ferry. “Travel on the biggest ferries ever to sail between Scotland and Northern Ireland, Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII. These sister ships travel from Cairnryan to Belfast in a crossing time from only 2 hours 15 minutes with a choice of up to 6 daily crossings so you can travel when it suits you.” from their website. Of course as luck would have it I was on the last of the six that day... so were a lot of other people ...some who had gone shopping and were returning with dresses bought for that all important Christmas Party … which one has to book for already … since end of September the ads have been out! Of course I ... read more